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"SONY Style" stores are hardly worth the trip ... for your DSLR

I have one major complaint that I have been living with, concerning SONY DSLRs (regardless of the model), because it is not the camera that is the problem. It is the god-awful support! There just isn’t any to speak of.

For example:

You go into a SONY Style store and ask for the camera counter. They direct you back to a glass display containing the cameras and a few (meager) selection of their lower end lenses. When you get back there, you expect to find a reasonably informed sales person that knows something about what they are selling.

That is mistake #1 , because in the entire store, manager included, there is not one person that can tell the difference between what an APS-C and FF can do, other than what is written on the small card in the card holder. Folks, I can read, too. There is no “expert” for the camera department, not even its manager. Most of them have not even seen a Carl Zeiss lens, other than the CZ 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 kit lens.

Going further, you would hope to be able to properly demonstrate the A900 to yourself. Mistake #2! The only lenses the SONY Style stores have that are “full frame” in design are a couple of primes, the 50mm f/1.4 and the 100mm f/2.8 MACRO. No serious zoom lens. Everything else is “DT”. I’m sorry, but if I am going to plunk down $2500 for a new camera body, you had better have a CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 and/or a 70-200mm f/2.8 G SSM lens to make it sing. It is pointless to try and examine that camera with anything less to understand its capability.

So, we have:

effectively useless support staff (I mean, this is THEIR store, not Best Buy or some such place) and

a severe lack of available equipment (lenses, flashes, whatnot) for the cameras.

I’m just pointing out a couple issues that are, in my opinion, “sales killers” and a real disappointment to people who have already purchased their new SONY DSLR and are now looking to add to their lens bag. Plus, other SONY-mount manufacturers (TAMRON & SIGMA) are not even carried in the SONY Style stores, so those sales and demonstrations are lost, completely.

Man … the SONY DSLR marketing plan is a complete failure, in my estimation, and its director/VP should be fired for malfeasance and a lack of vision. It truly needs to change, before everyone finds out and just blows SONY off as a “non-player.” Invest in your future, SONY. I mean it. Just advice that really needs some attention from a concerned fan.

Last edited by DonSchap; 07-15-2009 at 05:57 PM.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi

not quite sure what your so suprised or upset about Don. it is a sonystyle store not a sonydslr store. sony dslr would make up probably 5% of sony's sales in that place.

not even sure why you need a 24-70 and 70-200 lens to test out the a900. in fact, i'd go far as to say if you walk into a store to buy an a900 and you have to test it with a 24-70 and 70-200 in store then i put to you that you're probably just a tyre kicker.

Step up ... or step back!

Yeah ... I could see buying an D3X with only 50mm f/1.4 to base your $8000 decision on. Why not? And just who among us would want the option of buying a high end piece of glass to accompany you out of the store with your new investment? How bizarre that thinking is. Yeah, right!

Rooz, you can pick your battles. This is not one you need to get in the middle of, believe me. So ... politely asked ... BACK OFF or take up a sword and come on! Do not defend stupidity. It only makes you look like a moron and let's face it, after three years, SOME HEADS NEED TO ROLL ON THIS ... because, it needs serious attention. It is a complaint that is far too common to be ignored any longer.

I was surprised and upset the "FIRST TIME" I went in the store. Now, after five or six times, with no improvement in sight, I am madder than hell and I'm not going to take it any more.

I am planning a trip to the local major photography store ... to see if its approach to SONY DSLRs has improved since the last time I went in (It was pretty dire, requiring me to phone the local SONY Rep to see about changing that issue.) This is suppose to be a serious effort ... and it is time to hold their respective feet to the fire!

After 10 released DSLRs ... how about some respect for the buying customers?

Heck, it's not even a decent parts source for their own cameras. That simply has to change.

Last edited by DonSchap; 07-14-2009 at 12:01 AM.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi

Yeah ... I could see buying an D3X with only 50mm f/1.4 to base your $8000 decision on. Why not? And just who among us would want the option of buying a high end piece of glass to accompany you out of the store with your new investment? How bizarre that thinking is. Yeah, right!

Rooz, you can pick your battles. This is not one you need to get in the middle of, believe me. So ... politely asked ... BACK OFF or take up a sword and come on! Do not defend stupidity. It only makes you look like a moron and let's face it, after three years, SOME HEADS NEED TO ROLL ON THIS ... because, it needs serious attention. It is a complaint that is far too common to be ignored any longer.

I was surprise and upset the "FIRST TIME" I went in the store. Now, after five or six times, with no improvement in sight, I am madder than hell and I'm not going to take it any more.

I am planning a trip to the local major photography store ... to see if its approach to SONY DSLRs has improved since the last time I went in (It was pretty dire, requiring me to phone the local SONY Rep to see about changing that issue.) This is suppose to be a serious effort ... and it is time to hold their respective feet to the fire! After 10 released DSLRs ... how about some respect for the buying customers?

lol like i said if you're buying a d3x based on what you test it out with in store then you dont need it, you have no idea and all you're doing is tyre kicking. i've never tested any dslr i have bought in a store. ever. i dont know how it works there but over here d3x is by order only except at a few, (very few), high end camera stores. its not the sort of camera people walk off the street to buy. its the sort of camera that people KNOW they want, so they go buy it.

and what exactly are you gonna test out in store ? what particualr test can you do with a 24-70 in the camera shop that will tilt the scales from "maybe i'll buy this." to "YES i'll buy this based on what i just saw with the 24-70." there is absolutely ZERO that can be achieved in store with that type of test. if i'm wrong, and there is some definitive test you can do in the shop, please articualte it coherently.

you've been in 5 or 6 times you say ? and have you walked out with an a900 ? nope. you have stated numerous times on this forum that you are not in the market for an a900 yet you keep walking into the store wasting peoples time and doign some kind of sony service audit...so you're actually precesiely the sort of tyre kicker i was talking about.

sony dslr's are part of a HUGE conglomerate that is sony. HUGE. and its only a pimple on that huge ass, (no pun intended of course), so you have to expect that sony's focus on dslr will hardly be as intense as its focus on its core business. particularly given the fact that sony dslrs, at this stage, are aimed at either sony fanboys or hacks.

In other words ... to keep this simple ...

In the immortal rearranged words of Han Solo (Star Wars - A New Hope):
"Photography ain't like buying television sets, boy!"

Last edited by DonSchap; 07-14-2009 at 12:29 AM.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi

exactly...ie: the user should know what the heck they're doing prior to walking into the store. which perhaps is the issue...walking into a sony store to buy a dslr and knowing what you're doing is probbaly a mutually exclusive scenario. lol

I'm talking about long term survival, here

Yeah, who ever thought I would be begging for an improvement from "Mother SONY?"

I make the occasional trip out to the SONY Style store, because it is one of the few stores supporting the camera line with something more than just two lenses and three bodies in stock. I am always hoping these "corporate people" would understand the need for improving their DSLR section, since they were the ones who bought the darn thing from Minolta in the first place. They cannot just be another Best Buy or big box store. They are the "brand" store and people expect a certain level of support from the manufacturer. Currently, that level is about nonexistent.

Since SONY does not seem to acknowledge the remaining (barely surviving) brick & mortar camera stores, customers cannot go there for support. That is a real problem. Just ask Frank and Jason, as they are considering or have "jumped ship" because of it. Heck, you can ask anyone, it becomes a real problem when you need some support with your camera. I wrestle with this issue on almost a weekly basis ... and with the onslaught of newbies ... it just seems to be getting worse.

Nikon and Canon have thoroughly enjoyed the support from the brick & mortar bunch, mainly because they have outlasted their competition, Minolta included. They have SIGMA and TAMRON lenses in the C & N mounts. But, if you want a SONY-mount, you have to mail order them. That's not support, because that can be extremely costly if you need to return anything and take up to 3-weeks in some cases to get one.

I would love to walk a SONY Corporate photography-representative through one of the bigger "SONY Style" stores and ask a couple routine photography questions, just to have them hear the response and see the look of "you have got to be kidding me" that I have received. Then, I would like a simple response as to how this is going to work for supporting the five DSLRs they are currently marketing.

Last edited by DonSchap; 07-14-2009 at 01:15 AM.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi

i musta missed the part where you answered my question...if the sony execs you complain to are evenly remotely intelligent, they'd be asking the same thing. perhaps you can practice your answer here. only too happy to help Don.

Case in point

Look, Rooz ... I think I have presented "my case" for this problem quite well. I cannot solve it for them. That's why we pay for the cameras, they are not free. But they also have an implied support aspect, if SONY ever expects to be recognized as a competent and competing DSLR photography player.

The DSLR is the hobbyist's device, not Sally Sue Mommy snapping her kids with a "Point & Shoot." It demands a lot more support from the manufacturer, as such. This equipment parade needs to stop and some serious development of the users has to take place ... or it will be Canon and Nikon for everyone. I wouldn't like that.

I have put a lot of time and effort into this forum, supporting SONY's efforts without any benefit other than shooting through the camera. My motives are pure ... and I need not make any excuse for my opinion concerning this aspect of "the business." I want them to meet the public halfway. In three years, they have grown their product from one DSLR (A100) to nine (A100, A200, A230, A300, A330, A350, A380, A700 & A900) currently in the field. Before, support was "excusable" ... now, it is just "UNACCEPTABLE."

They are saying they are a serious player in the market. I say ... "PROVE IT -> with Professional-level support"

Last edited by DonSchap; 07-14-2009 at 01:28 AM.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi